How genomics can help biodiversity conservation
Authors: Kathrin Theissinger, Carlos Fernandes, Giulio Formenti, Iliana Bista, Paul R. Berg, Christoph Bleidorn, Aureliano Bombarely, Angelica Crottini, Guido R. Gallo, José A. Godoy, Sissel Jentoft, Joanna Malukiewicz, Alice Mouton, Rebekah A. Oomen, Sadye Paez, Per J. Palsbøll, Christophe Pampoulie, María J. Ruiz-López, Simona Secomandi, Hannes Svardal, Constantina Theofanopoulou, Jan de Vries, Ann-Marie Waldvogel, Guojie Zhang, Erich D. Jarvis, Miklós Bálint, Claudio Ciofi, Robert M. Waterhouse, Camila J. Mazzoni, Jacob Höglund, Sargis A. Aghayan, Tyler S. Alioto, Isabel Almudi, Nadir Alvarez, Paulo C. Alves, Isabel R. Amorim do Rosario, Agostinho Antunes, Paula Arribas, Petr Baldrian, Giorgio Bertorelle, Astrid Böhne, Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati, Ljudevit L. Boštjančić, Bastien Boussau, Catherine M. Breton, Elena Buzan, Paula F. Campos, Carlos Carreras, L. FIlipe C. Castro, Luis J. Chueca, Fedor Čiampor, Elena Conti, Robert Cook-Deegan, Daniel Croll, Mónica V. Cunha, Frédéric Delsuc, Alice B. Dennis, Dimitar Dimitrov, Rui Faria, Adrien Favre, Olivier D. Fedrigo, Rosa Fernández, Gentile Francesco Ficetola, Jean-François Flot, Toni Gabaldón, Dolores R. Agius, Alice M. Giani, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Tine Grebenc, Katerina Guschanski, Romain Guyot, Bernhard Hausdorf, Oliver Hawlitschek, Peter D. Heintzman, Berthold Heinze, Michael Hiller, Martin Husemann, Alessio Iannucci, Iker Irisarri, Kjetill S. Jakobsen, Peter Klinga, Agnieszka Kloch, Claudius F. Kratochwil, Henrik Kusche, Kara K.S. Layton, Jennifer A. Leonard, Emmanuelle Lerat, Gianni Liti, Tereza Manousaki, Tomas Marques-Bonet, Pável Matos-Maraví, Michael Matschiner, Florian Maumus, Ann M. Mc Cartney, Shai Meiri, José Melo-Ferreira, Ximo Mengual, Michael T. Monaghan, Matteo Montagna, Robert W. Mysłajek, Marco T. Neiber, Violaine Nicolas, Marta Novo, Petar Ozretić, Ferran Palero, Lucian Pârvulescu, Marta Pascual, Octávio S. Paulo, Martina Pavlek, Cinta Pegueroles, Loïc Pellissier, Graziano Pesole, Craig R. Primmer, Ana Riesgo, Lukas Rüber, Diego Rubolini, Daniele Salvi, Ole Seehausen, Matthias Seidel, Bruno Studer, Spyros Theodoridis, Marco Thines, Lara Urban, Anti Vasemägi, Adriana Vella, Noel Vella, Sonja C. Vernes, Cristiano Vernesi, David R. Vieites, Christopher W. Wheat, Gert Wörheide, Yannick Wurm, Gabrielle Zammit
Journal: Trends in Genetics (2023)

The availability of public genomic resources can greatly assist biodiversity assessment, conservation, and restoration efforts by providing evidence for scientifically informed management decisions. Here we survey the main approaches and applications in biodiversity and conservation genomics, considering practical factors, such as cost, time, prerequisite skills, and current shortcomings of applications. Most approaches perform best in combination with reference genomes from the target species or closely related species. We review case studies to illustrate how reference genomes can facilitate biodiversity research and conservation across the tree of life. We conclude that the time is ripe to view reference genomes as fundamental resources and to integrate their use as a best practice in conservation genomics.